MSN Admission - NP/CNS

Students Post Graduate

Published

Quick question for all of you out there who have recently been admitted to an NP/CNS program....did any of you apply and gain admission immediately following graduation from your BSN program? How many years of experience did you have when applying to an NP/CNS program?

I will be graduating from my BSN program next May and would like to enter an NP/CNS program immediately following this. I have read on some school's websites that they require 1-2 years of nursing experience, while others make no mention of this. I am curious if programs do admit students without nursing experience or if this unusual?

I would consider myself a relatively competitive applicant; I already have a bachelor's and master's degree with relatively good GPAs. Additionally, I have several years of healthcare experience. Your thoughts would be appreciated!

Winnie04

72 Posts

Specializes in cardiac electrophysiology, critical care.

Hi,

Yes, there are some MSN programs that admit students straight from their BSN. I can't say if it's "unusual" or not- I don't know how common it is but I know it exists!

Some other schools prefer/require applicants to have experience. Even at the schools that may allow entrance straight from undergrad, there may be some specialty tracks within that school that only admit students once they have a year or two of experience (ie. CRNA always requires that applicants have ICU experience..some schools might also require experience for folks applying to other specialties like CNM, acute care NP/CNS, etc).

The best thing to do is to look at schools' websites and/or call them to find out for sure.

Good luck!

MissDoodaw

175 Posts

Every school has different requirements, although the experience will really help you through NP school.

UVA Grad Nursing

1,068 Posts

At my University, we will admit those with less than 1 year of fulltime RN experience as part-time students. They may enroll in some of the core classes (theory, research, health policy, pathophysiology) that do not require practice experience.

However, you would need to have at least 1 year of fulltime RN experience before progressing to advanced pharm, advanced assessment, the specialty seminars, and the practica.

Not many of our current students fit into this latter category though. For this fall, we had over 200 applications for 70 spaces. Those with practice experience had some advantages over those who had not practiced as nurses. Only a handful of the incoming 70 student have less than 12 months of fulltime practice.

DriBak

47 Posts

I got accepted 1 year after BSN, however, I have been a RN since 1995

+ Add a Comment